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How to bring your best game to the table?

Posted By: Jason Lee
Date: Thursday, 20 August 2026, at 12:23 a.m.

In Response To: How to bring your best game to the table? (Francesco)

I want to address some misconceptions in your post.

I got my PR under 10, and in my last twenty matches on Heroes I played at ~8PR according to GnuBG. Among these last matches (mostly 13-point matches, with some 9-point and 7-point matches too), PR varies wildly: my best match is 5PR, my worst... 17PR.

First of all, perfectly fine to use GNUBG to analyze your matches. You might hear people tell you that you "need" to use XG or other bots. GNUBG is good enough.

Next, you're putting way too much stock into a very small data set. Twenty matches is a woefully small data set. I would like to see 100, 200, or more matches to be able to draw meaningful conclusions.

To address variability: This is normal. I hear a lot of players lament how their PR varies wildly. I repeat: THIS IS NORMAL.

I am influenced by the pressure of the clock

Bob Koca addressed this very well. You're probably creating time pressure where none exists.

I tried writing down a checklist to review at every move.

I really like this idea -- maybe your checklist isn't a good one, or isn't complete. I should also point out that if you're playing for fun, this is fine, but in competitive play it is not allowed to refer to reference material. You can memorize your checklist!

Maybe if you are practicing against a bot, bring out your checklist.

But in a fast game like Backgammon

WHOOP WHOOP DANGER DANGER!!! MAJOR MISCONCEPTION ALERT!!!

Let me stop you right there. You have just made a HUGE blunder. Backgammon is NOT a fast game. Played at the highest levels, backgammon is a slow, deliberate, thoughtful game. Many plays can be made quickly, but by far... BY FAR, the biggest mistake that is made by beginners and intermediates is they play much much too quickly.

Slow down. Use your reserve time, and do so regularly. Even if you are making an obvious play, use that time to think about what your game plan is. What are you trying to accomplish next turn. What is your opponent trying to accomplish.

Never snap take a cube, and never snap double. When a cube action is involved, at bare minimum, use your full reserve time. If a redouble is involved, take even longer -- this could decide the match.

Don't let your opponent's pace dictate yours. You will play plenty of rabbits. You need to set your own pace, completely independent of how fast your opponent plays.

Start recording how much time you left at the end of your matches. If you are regularly finishing with more than 5 minutes of reserve time, then you're playing too quickly.

JLee

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